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Into Wine's Top Burgundy Wines of 2019

The Burgundy region of France makes some of the best wines in the world. The reds are mostly made from Pinot Noir and the whites are made from Chardonnay. And, the region of Beaujolais, whose wines are made from the Gamay grape, is also part of Burgundy. I was lucky enough...

A (Very Quick) Primer on Types of Sherry

Sherry (the wine from Spain) can be confusing to understand, much less choosing a bottle in a store. Like most things in life, however, choosing a bottle of Sherry can be understood once one realizes at almost every step, it’s about dividing the choices into two categories...

Top Pinot Noir of 2019

I don’t drink a ton of Pinot Noir, but every once in a while, it is just what I want. There are so many diverse styles from the big fruit bombs to the elegant, more feminine in style. In the United States, there are wonderful Pinot’s being made in many states. The best...

Smackdown Pinot Noir: Willamette Valley -v- Russian River Valley

In California the best-known Pinot Noir producing area is, by far, Sonoma’s Russian River Valley. In Oregon it’s the Willamette Valley. The Willamette has just under 16,000 acres of Pinot Noir planted. The next most planted grape here? Pinot Gris, with less than 4,000 acres...

Top Napa Cabernet Sauvignon - 2019 Tastings

Different years bring different wines. Travel, vintages, the contents of my cellars, bottles opened by friends, all make things different from year to year. This year, about 1,000 tasting notes were added to the Intowine.com database. Naturally, the wines tasted vary over...

Map of Regions

Plan your wine country trip with IntoWine's interactive map of California's wine country. Includes winery profiles and pictures as well as articles listing the best wineries for picnics, tours, beautiful views, wedding receptions, and more.

Wine Reviews

Recent articles

This is and has been a go to value in outstanding wine for a long time now. The winery makes all different price ranges and this one is in the middle. Purple in color, ruby at the rim. The nose has black cherries, slight black olives, spice and a bit of earthiness. On the palate, this is full bodied. It still has light tannins with plenty of black cherry fruit. Lovely texture. Nice finish. It is drinking well but can still probably improve a bit as it gets to peak. Let's say three to five more years until peak and another ten to twelve of prime drinking after that. It drinks well

What a great showing for this wine. Gorgeous. Purple in color, mostly opaque and bright. The nose has black cherries, black raspberries, char, bramble and baking spices. Full bodied. Lush and luxurious texture. Lots of energy though. It drinks (too) easily. Delicious but also has a depth and complexity. Lots of black cherries, black raspberries and black pepper on the palate. Long finish. This should continue to drink well for ten years at least but it will lose its vibrancy and be replaced with more complexity. It would be a shame to miss it now. It will work great with grille

There are not a lot of Tempranillo's grown outside Spain and few in California, so it's always a pleasure to get to try one. I suspect they have a small plot for this to experiment with and bottle it as a winery only release (just a guess). It is 90% Tempranillo, 6% Malbec, and 1% Petit Verdot. Ruby in color, mostly clear and bright. The nose has cherries and baking spices with a bit of tea leaves and slight smoke. On the palate, this is full bodied. Bold cherry fruit with light tannins and underlying roasted herbs. There is little acidity or depth making me wonder how this might age

A very pretty, classically styled Sonoma Cabernet. This is a blend of 89% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Petit Verdot, 3% Malbec, and 2% Merlot. Purple in color with some purple swirls. The nose has cassis, black cherries, tobacco, slight bell pepper and spice. On the palate, this is full bodied with medium tannins. Cassis with a nice underlying earthiness/forest floor. Good balance. Ripe but not over blown by any means. This should drink well for the next fifteen years as it develops and matures. Drinking great on its own, this will work well with roasts or casseroles.

I was expecting this to be a much bigger wine. Perhaps it is the vintage as 2017 was a thinner vintage in much of Napa. In any event, it is an excellent wine styled in more of a claret styled Zin. As it is the first vintage I have had, I am curious if this is representative of other vintages. Deep ruby in color with purple swirls. The nose has red berries, some cedar and a ton of black pepper. On the palate, the red fruit and the black pepper come thru. Good acidity. The drinks almost too easily. Very good on its own, this would work with steaks of burgers too. t seems like it sho

This is a late harvest syled dessert wine from Arizona. Light golden in color. There is a lot of volatile acidity on the nose, but with air, some/most of it blows off. There is some honey and white raisins on the nose. On the palate this is viscous. Slightly sweet though not cloying. It lacks some much needed acidity. The honey comes thru to the palate, along with slight peach. Shorter finish. It worked with a not too sweet carrot cake. It should last for five to ten more years although the VA is a bit worrying.

There is a wide range in style and quality for MdA's. This is one of the better ones that is still affordable. This took about thirty minutes to really open but then drank quite well. Deep ruby in color. The nose has cherries and plums with some clove notes. Medium bodied. On the palate, cherries, slight sour cherries with a strong backbone of acidity. There is some depth and complexity though not a lot. It begs for food and worked with a lasagna in bechamel sauce though perhaps a tomato sauce would work better. It drinks ok on its own although the acidity stands out. It probably

This is drinking very well right now. Light golden in color. The nose has lemon cream, brioche and slight orange/citrus. Very nice. Also just a bit of baking spices. On the palate, this is full bodied. Still showing some oak that will integrate with further ageing. Delicious. Flavors of orange creamsicle and baking spices. Great energy and precision. Long finish. This worked well with a vegetarian lasagna in bechamel sauce but will work with most seafood or fowl dishes. it may yet improve a bit but should be great drinking for the next ten to fifteen years.

An interesting take of Gewurtz. Very different from the Alsatian counterparts. Light golden in color, clear and bright. The nose has no lychee at all which is fine just a bit surprising. It does have a floral quality to it, along with ginger and a strong mineral base. Very nice. On the palate, this is medium bodied. It is dry as a bone. The minerality comes thru along with a granny smith apple note and a bit of orange peel. Clean finish with no bitterness. Overall, it is a very nice wine that worked excellently with a butternut squash soup. It probably should be consumed in the n

This is the inaugural vintage for this wine. A blend of 60% Chardonnay and 40% Pinot Noir. The dosage (added sugar) was 4g/l which is very low. Light silvery golden in color with a fine line of tiny bubbles. The nose is expressive. Very clean with pears, slight lanolin, lemon curd and yeast with underlying slight nuttiness and a hint of smoke. On the palate, this has a nice crispness. Light strawberries with more profound lemon cream along with a slight nuttiness. There is some orange rind on the finish. Clean and deep, it is tight in the glass. No guess as to how it ages balancin